2.15.2013

joovy moon room review

I first fell in love with this beauty at the Big City Moms Biggest Baby Shower event and was overcome with excitement when Joovy said they were sending me one. Because some things are just meant to be (and I might have been willing the postal service to coordinate with me here, out of pure excitement if nothing else), our Moon Room arrived on the very day we were leaving for vacation. Talk about actually being able to give this thing a fair review! If you're a parent, chances are you know Joovy is rather synonymous for cool (see what I did there?), unique and high-quality baby products. Even with my expectations as high as expectations can possibly go, they were still exceeded. This Moon Room? Yeah. It's stellar!

During our vacation, we stayed with some of our friends who don't yet have children. This always makes me nervous, as a parent, in fear that my sleep-hating child will deter them from ever having children. Sleep isn't Ethan's strong point and that's always only been intensified while on vacation. To our surprise, Ethan laid down in the Moon Room and slept the entire night away without a single wake-up. It seemed as if it were simply too good to be true, but the case is that the Moon Room is just that well made.

The Moon Room covers over 10 square feet of space. That said, I was a little nervous about it being potentially heavy to carry and maybe a little bulky, too. This wasn't the case at all. It folds up super compactly and is placed into it's accompanying carrying bag with a handle you can fling over your shoulder. When I lifted it out of the car and carried it inside by myself, I was pleasantly surprised by how lightweight it felt. The Moon Room itself weighs 27.5 pounds, which seemed like a lot at first until I realized it's far less than Ethan weighs and I haul him around on the regular. The set-up is just as easy. My husband was sure we'd need tools and some initial assembly before being able to put Ethan to sleep in it that first night on vacation. However, there are no tools necessary and, really, no assembly necessary. You pop it open, snap the side locks into place and it's ready to go. Just like that.

My favorite feature of the Moon Room is the space. Oh, my gosh, the space! Ethan isn't exactly a small baby. He tops the percentiles for height and weight. Our standard pack and play is always a struggle since it leaves him no room to roll around. Because he sleeps with a pillow, the standard pack and play leaves him with even less room -- as in, either he sleeps on the pillow or he has to sleep with his legs squished at the bottom. We set the Moon Room up in our living room to do a quick photoshoot and Ethan -- He Who Never Sleeps, as you will -- happily sat in the Moon Room for a few pictures and then laid down. My husband and I were abuzz with "what is he doing?" and "is he sleeping??" The Moon Room is just so comfortable for him, with ample room for him to lay down, roll around and actually get a decent night of sleep. Since we do travel kind of regularly to my family's lake house, having this secure, comfortable place for Ethan to sleep is a must. Seeing how content he is in his spacious Moon Room takes a load of stress off our shoulders, too. Gone is the guilt of traveling with knowing how cramped and unhappy Ethan is in a standard pack and play. The Moon Room is more than a playard, it truly is like a room. Plus, the Moon Room itself is made up of 600D nylon fabric and comes with a completely cozy 100% cotton sheet. It really is the complete package!

Now that Ethan is a toddler, I often have these moments where I tack things onto my "things I wish I knew before Ethan was born" list. In this case, talk about things I wish I had. The Moon Room would be an absolutely perfect play area -- not only for sleeping, but for confined play. I think of all those times when Ethan had learned to crawl and I struggled to figure out how to tackle basic life duties, like cooking dinner, as I chased him up and down our hallway and living room. The Moon Room is a perfect play area for infants -- I mean, with over 10 square feet of floor space, they won't even feel confined. The mesh windows of the Moon Room are large and also help to ease any fear of confinement. Baby can easily see out across the entire room and the parents can just as easily see in. Because it's one of those items that is perfect for infancy and also toddlerhood, the Moon Room is simply a must -- and extraordinarily practical. Husbands (or is it just mine?) love practicality and the Moon Room encompasses that completely.

The detail that was put into the creation of the Moon Room is apparent. With our standard pack and play, I never felt there was any support for Ethan's back. The mattress was flimsy and uncomfortable, and I had to purchase an extra cushion to fasten to it. The Moon Room eliminates the need to purchase an extra cushion and any desire to do so in the first place. The mattress is thick, sturdy and heavy-duty. It's plush and while it folds up compactly, still manages to feel like a thick, real mattress, not like the baby is laying or sleeping on a flimsy piece of plastic.

I also love how sturdy the Moon Room is. It has sturdy rubber feet that grip to the tile for added support with an additional metal support bar steadying the bottom. The mattress is so plush and thick, that you cannot feel the metal bar or bottom of the playard even if you push on it. Even when Ethan -- who weighs in at over 30 pounds -- rolls across the Moon Room, it stays sturdy and does not shake, bend or move.

To learn more about Joovy and the Moon Room, stay connected with them on Twitter and Facebook!

Where To Buy: The Joovy Moon Room retails for $219.99 and can be purchased on Joovy's website.

We have the 4moms breeze and we love it. We even hauled it to Europe with us. The moon room looks bigger but our little girl is a peanut, around 21lbs at 26 months. Would you compare the side of the moon room to a regular size crib, I'm not so good with dimensions lol